Canada needs an extra end, but beats Norway in opening match

They may have needed an extra end, but Canadian skip Kevin Martin placed the last stone perfectly in the four foot to secure a 7-6 victory for his country.  Heading into Martin’s final throw, it looked like Norway could end up with a huge come from behind victory.

But the “Old Bear” was able to get just a piece of the button and claim the match for his hometown.

After jumping out to a 5-1 lead after the fourth end, Canada failed to get points in the next four, allowing Norway to gain ground trailing only 5-4 after 8 ends.

Canada would score a point in the ninth to put themselves up by two going into the final end of the match.  Norway then took a timeout with only one stone to throw and allowed skip Thomas Ulsrud to plan out his strategy, which he connected perfectly to force the extra end.

Both teams shot three blanks in a row keeping their rough match at a standstill during the middle of the series.

The win was especially big for Martin, as it was Norway that defeated Canada for the gold medal eight years ago in the Salt Lake City Olympic Games.

Elsewhere in the round robin curling games, Great Britain, who is skipped by defending world champion David Murdoch, suffered an upset at the hands of Sweden 6-4.

Germany also defeated the USA by running them out of rocks in the tenth and final end, winning 7-5.

Denmark and Switzerland was determined in the final end, with the Swiss pulling out on top 6-5.

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By: Matt Shott
Posted: Feb 16 2010 4:15 pm
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Filed under: Winter Games
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